I love this post!
as an american citizen I would like thank you all from other countries and cultures for being so open minded torwards the united states, a country that is often stereotyped.
just like other cultures, americans are good and bad, antisocial and friendly, obese and anorexic (ok... so that example may be one special to the good 'ole us of a ::note sarcasm on the good 'ole part: but isn't every other culture too?
yes, our president is an idiot from texas but hey, at least we got to pick him.
and that's what keeps me in the united states...
the fact that I have the right to vote and say what I want about the government and not go to jail for it.
not that it's like that in every other country
and we do have guantanamo bay which is disgustingly abhorrent
and of which makes me sick when I think about it
but
like I said
good and bad
it's all a gray area..._________________obscure confuscation

I like American people, but not their government.
I lived America for 5 months in 2 years ago.
My roommate was so cool, and other friends were also kind and pleasant to be around.
I had a really good time in America.
They express their feelings a lot, and they try to understand the others.
I like to hang out with Americans.
I donít like American government because I hate Bush.
They want to get every important place, resource and power in the world.
I know someone has an opinion that itís strange to say ďI like American People, but I donít like their governmentĒ because American people chose their government.
I think thatís very different because I like their personality, but itís not their political opinion.

Posted: Tue Oct 17, 2006 4:26 pm Post subject: What do you think about American people

I think Americans are very good people, but American statesmen are not good people. Though America is world leader and American culture, action behavior policy and economy etc affect all over the world, she is the worldís crime power and cause many wars. America is lacking in awareness of world leader. World leader should have the best adherence to world peace in the world, propagate good culture all over the world and have kindness for many other countries. Therefore, American civilians are really good people, but American statesmen should see American society in a new light.

I think about the Americans, they really have an awesome country with a lot of open-minded, nice, sweet and friendly people, and gosh they make the best movies in the world*lol*. As for their government, I don't forget about the 49 percent who voted against Bush._________________"Who only speaks one language doesn't know his own" Goethe

Basically, I think many American civilians are nice.
However, I think Americans donít know about what is happening around the world.
I heard this story from my teacher. He is an American and teaching in Japan for long time. When he came back to America, he met his niece nearly 30 years old. His niece didnít know where Japan is!! I was surprised when I heard this story.
Some of Americans are really intelligent and they are interested in other country, but many Americans are not interested in other country.

I think about the Americans, they really have an awesome country with a lot of open-minded, nice, sweet and friendly people, and gosh they make the best movies in the world*lol*. As for their government, I don't forget about the 49 percent who voted against Bush.

Wow- perfect post!!

It IS important to remember that the leader of a country isn't necessarily a good representation of the civilians.
For Bush, MORE people actually voted against him than for him (he lost the popular vote)._________________peace-monger

Actually, we the people do not choose. An Electoral College chooses. That's one of the reasons that in the 2000 election, Gore had more votes, but Bush won the election. In the end though it was decided by the Supreme Court in 2000, not by the people.

And in 2004, there were so many voting irregularities that any objective observer might come to the conclusion the outcome was fixed (http://www.tompaine.com/articles/an_election_spoiled_rotten.php). But most of the issues were covered up or ignored by the media.

hello, I'm a japanese girl. this topic is difficult for me, because I don't know about them so well. I think America became the most powerful country around the world now. sometimes they can correctly use their power to help suffering people in other countries. But, sometimes they take a mistake how to use it; ex Iraq war etc... Of course there are maybe some of Iraq people who think the war was a good way, I don't know. So, Americans often think that they are right and what they do is the best way. However, I like Americans whom I made friends with. There are so many immigrants, because the U.S government allows immigrants to get in America. I think America is tolerant.

Actually, we the people do not choose. An Electoral College chooses. That's one of the reasons that in the 2000 election, Gore had more votes, but Bush won the election. In the end though it was decided by the Supreme Court in 2000, not by the people.

And in 2004, there were so many voting irregularities that any objective observer might come to the conclusion the outcome was fixed (http://www.tompaine.com/articles/an_election_spoiled_rotten.php). But most of the issues were covered up or ignored by the media.

I'm well aware of the distinction between the popular vote and the electoral college, and I know how it played out in the 2000 election.

However, I was asked whether or not the people choose their government, and I said yes. Even though it's through the electoral college, the electoral college's "votes" are based on the American people, and we choose our president to MUCH more of an extent than people in many other countries do.
I think the question was more like "Do the votes really matter, or is America really a dictatorship?" sort of thing, and the answer is clearly that (at least in such a simple context) we DO choose our president.
I don't think the asker was thinking on such a complex level of the electoral college, but even if we DO consider the electoral college, our votes DO matter, even if they don't DIRECTLY choose the president._________________peace-monger

I have some American friends, and most of them good persons. I also like American culture for example movie, sport, and music etc. But I donít like those who voted to Bush in 2004. I canít understand why they voted to Bush. The U.S. has caused more than 50,000 Iraqi dead. Of course, as you know, Saddam Husayn is banished from Iraqi government but the U.S. has should take other measures. I think American should know what is happening in the world. Although America have good culture which are respected by many people in the world, I regret reducing to their worth by themselves due to politics.

I think we shouldnít think separately the government and people who live in that country when we consider about this topic because people themselves administer that government, you know?
Politician is also just a person who lives in America. However I canít say Jorge Bush is the symbol of Americans, because I know many Americans donít agree with him at all. I think Bush has quite different opinions from most of Americans have. So, as someone said before, we shouldnít judge people from their leaders, but also not from nationality. Generally, Americans are seen as like lazy or dangerous people, but I know there are so many hard workers and very kind people in there.

I'm Japanese student. I'm going to write my opinion about Americans.
i think the U.S. has largest influence on the World also on Japan. It seems that the U.S. controls all international conferences, and tries to pass them opinions. Also I feel that Japan is a country that looks like U.S.s childs, so it means Japan always obeys the U.S. But I like Americans and Smerican cluture. they have the highest medicine, various music culture, and history of democracy. So American people need to choose their leader carefully, and we (japanese) should decide on ourself about our country.